Daniel is currently devouring all things Maximum Ride. James Patterson's next series is on his radar for later, as is the new Rick Riordan book coming out this week. He tears through the books in no time, sometimes stopping to read something for school between books. It is pretty common for him to drag a book where ever we go so that he can spend a few minutes reading in the car or even in a store if there is time.
None of this is put past Chris. He sees everyone read, and wants desperately to know how to read as well. At book stores and libraries he picks out stacks of books he wants to read. He will even sit on his own with a book for 10 minutes paging through. But the books he picks up are always out of his (current) league. He wants to be able to read the same chapter books that his friends at school are reading: Magic Treehouse, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dragon Slayers Academy, etc.
I am indeed fine with him paging through books that are much past his ability, but we also dedicate time every day to do some reading that is at his reading level. This is where things get complicated. Because he is 10. And the books that are at his level are not geared for 10 year olds.
And while Chris desperately wants to know how to read, he really has no interest in the actual process of learning how to read.
We're trying something new these past few weeks to incorporate the books he wants to read into the mix. Now, I scour the library system for books I think are level appropriate. And I try to pick ones that are not super babyish. He reads those same three books to me each night for a week (or a little more). And after he reads them to me, I read him one or two chapters of one of the books his peers are reading. So far, so good. He complains less, looks forward to hearing the chapter book, and progressively gets better at the books he is reading so by the end of the week he feels pretty successful.
He does lose the ability to pick his own books each night, but overall, he is doing really well with the new strategy. It is definitely more time consuming for me as I am spend lots of time on the library website looking for books I think will be good and adding them to my queue. And occasionally we get a dud book, although I can usually tell by paging through it briefly at the library if it is going to be a total bust.
Last week our reading list included the following:
- Chicken Said "Cluck"
- Orange Pear Apple Bear [This one was super easy, but he kind of liked it anyway (or at least liked having one he could get through really fast).]
- There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Fly Guy [He LOVES the Fly Guy series in general.]
- Dragon Slayers Academy book one: New Kid at School
I still have to stop at the library later today, but this coming week will look like this:
- Snack Attack
- Teeny Genie [I actually bought this one yesterday on a tip from another smart mom.]
- There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Fly Guy [We're repeating this one for the next few weeks as Chris chose it to use for his book report at school that is due mid-month -- we'll just keep reading it every night until the report is done.]
- And of course more Dragon Slayers Academy, New Kid at School
7 comments:
Thanks for the shout-out. We are also a family of readers, but unfortunately we don't do it in front of our kids often enough. We read in bed after they've gone to sleep. I read on my iPhone, so they can't really see me opening a real book. I know I need to change that. But I do read when eating (I know, it's an awful habit, but I got it from my mother and I didn't think it was THAT bad).
Another magazine that my son loves to read - the Lego magazine. But I'm sure you knew that one.
I've tried the subscription for Highlights for my 7 year old and High Five for my 6 year old - but the stories in there are still too long and difficult for both of them. You may want to look into it.
I was thrilled to hear that the new private school where I'm sending my kids next year has a point system in the library. You read a book, then you test yourself on the computer about the subject. If you answered the questions right, you get the points marked on the book. Whoever earns the most points at the end of the year gets an award.
Look at the "We both Read" series. You might need to find them on Amazon since they don't have them at our library. They are great because the kid reads one side of the page and the parent reads the other side. The kids side is at the level of the book (grade 1, 2, etc) and the parents is harder but incorporates challenge words that the kids use on the following pages (highlighted). It also helps move the story along so that you can read at a challenge level for your child. My son loves them. At the second and third grade level they have soem interesting mysteries as well.
My son also loves the Lego magazine. They pass them out at school for free each month.
Good luck - Keep us up to date on the favorites.
I think what you are doing is great!! When I taught early elementary we always suggested to the parents to read a page, then the child read a page, that way you share a book. I don't know if Chris is at this level yet. As a former reading teacher I love that you are having him read & reread the same books!! That should help him learn :-) I can only imagine ow frustrated he is to not be reading what he wants to read!
I don't know how big your local library is but to combat the issue of "baby" book reading for my 10 year old adoptee, we headed for the teen and adult ESL section. The books were on her reading level and not full of cartoons or baby pictures that bothered her so much.
Before I asked, I never even knew there were teen/adult ESL books!
While I am not a good judge of reading levels, I would recommend the Bruno & Boots series by Gordon Korman. The first book in the series is 'This Can't Be Happening at MacDonald Hall!'. These are really funny and not too complicated (it was written by a 13 year old). For a change in what you read to him, try Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome. This is a start of a series, and while I think they would be to hard at the moment, by kids loved me to read them to them in their younger years (even after they could have read the books themselves).
Yes, we have a family library of 2000+ and the boys are dying to attack it. However, with only a year of reading English under their belts, they're settling for the Magic Tree House books. Sure wish there were real books for children (non-trade-paperbacks) that were fantastic and readily available. We're just trying to give them lots of time to practice so we can get them on to less fluffy stuff. Sure is hard, though, isn't it?
Sarah, thanks for the many suggestions on how and what to read.
I love to read and my daughter loves to read (Kindergarten) but my husband doesn't read at all an my 12 year old has no interest due to is smaller vocabulary. I've suggested he read his sisters books but he just scoffs at that idea. :)
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